What's New

The 2015-2016 El Niño cycle has had devastating effects in many developing regions, including across much of Africa south of the Sahara. According to a new report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, El Niño has affected 60 million people worldwide, and 23 countries have issued response plans costing upwards of US$ 5 billion in national funding and international aid.

Climate change and weather variability are posing challenges for smallholder farmers worldwide, but women farmers tend to be even harder hit due to a lack of resources. According to the first article in a special issue of Gender, Technology and Development released in July, women farmers in Malawi lack access to basic agricultural tools, as well as to new technologies and practices that can enhance labor productivity and aid in climate change adaptation.

Southern Africa has been hard hit with drought over the last year, with many areas facing increased food insecurity and several countries declaring national emergencies. According to researchers at the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) , these drought conditions could be southern Africa’s “new normal.” If this is the case, cereal and livestock farmers in the region will need assistance in building their resilience and adapting their production to the new, drier conditions.

Several new country briefs for Africa south of the Sahara have recently been released by FAO’s Global Information and Early Warning Systems (GIEWS). The GIEWS country brief series provides an overview of the food security situation in prioritized countries, focusing on the current agricultural season, harvest prospects for staple food crops and livestock, estimates and forecasts of cereal production, and food price and food policy trends.

Agriculture in West Africa faces numerous challenges, including soil degradation, market instability, and significant threats from climate change. In response to these obstacles, many adaptation strategies, such as production of non-traditional crop varieties, have been encouraged. It remains less clear, however, what actually drives farmers’ decisions to adopt (or not adopt) these strategies. For example, a farmer may choose to plant a new crop variety in response to a short-term drought or as part of a longer term strategy to adapt to climate change.